Quad-Core ARM CPU Support Found in Xcode, Quickly Removed by Apple

Apple looks to be experimenting with quad-core ARM CPU’s, possibly for future iPhone, iPad, and even MacBook Airs, as references in Xcodes default compiler reveal. This was first discovered by ArsTechnica, who proposes three possible scenarios for why the CPU support exists:

Quad-core processor could be included in next-gen iOS devices like the iPad 3

Ars concludes the third option is most likely, suggesting that Apple is using the CPU for prototypes:

“most probable in our opinion, is that Apple is using the Marvell chip in prototypes of future iOS device designs (or even an ARM-based MacBook Air that is rumored to exist somewhere inside One Infinite Loop) for testing purposes. An Armada XP-powered prototype logic board would allow iOS or Mac OS X software engineers to experiment with performance tuning and other optimizations”

I hope Apple is not stupid enough to make an ARM based MacBook AIR – is it powerful enough to run compiler tools – NO. Even if it 16 cores – it will still be slower than this 2010 MBA I am typing this on.